Building construction.



J. M VERNON.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

APPLIOATION IILED our. 21, 1913.

' Patented May 12, 1914 Inventor 411% Attorney.

Witnesses JAMES M. VERNON, 0F EVERETT, W'ASI-IINGTON.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12. 191- Application filed October 21. 1913. Serial No.796.397.

To all 10. mm it 722 (13 conccrn Be it known that I, JAMES M. VERNON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county ofSnohomish, State of Vashington, have invented a new and useful.Improvement in Building Construction, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of dwellingsand other buildings, and consists in the novel arrangement of therespectlve parts as hereinafter described and explained, andparticularly pointed out in the claims terminating this specification. I

It is a matter of great importance in the erection of buildings to soconstruct the partitions and floors thereof that sound will not becarried therethrough: this is particularly desirable and valuable inbuildings used for apartments, and it has had the careful thought andstudy of some of the ablest architects and builders.

Alleged sound-proof partitions and floors have been constructed invarious ways and subjected to numerous tests but their elliciency hasnot been proven. Different methods for preventing the tltlllSIl'llSSlOllof sound fromv one room to another have been devised and tried withoutsuccess. And it would seem that the-ineflicieney of the many methods hasbeen due, generally, to the fact that in nearly every instance wheresome deadener or claimed interrupter of sound hasnbeen used, there hasbeen but one row of studding in the partitions or one set of joistsbetween the ceiling and floor above.

In constructions of this character it is neces sary to lath directlyupon both sides or edges of the partition studding, and on the loweredges of the joists to which the flooring is nailed; in such cases afirm, rigid construction is the result and is, therefore, readilyvibrated by sound waves thereby forming an excellent medium for thetransmission of sound.

It has been my observation that where lath are nailed upon both sides ofa single row of studding or upon one edge of joists to which flooring isnailed, Whether with or without yielding material therebetween althoughthere may be some sound deadening substance interposed, sound will becarried therethrough, and this is for the reason that they are thus madepractically compact structures.

In order to overcome and remedy the defects mentioned, I have devised aplan of building construction which is believed to be effective inarresting; sound waves by confining them, practically, to their place oforigin.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of my improved construction. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross section through the floor joists and the ceiling joists. Fig. 3 isa horizontal cross section through the partition studding.

Slimilar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the present invention, when setting up the partitions in a building,I first cure to the floor in the custon'lary manner a strip, 1. of thewidth necessary to support the studding to be secured thereto. Two rowsof studding, Q, 3. are set in lines parallcl to each other but instaggered relation, that is, alternately more or less to one side 'of aline drawn longitudinally through the center of strip 1. For example: if9 x 4. studding. are to be set in staggered relation as described, thestrip 1 should. be about six inches wide so that the outer faces oredges of one row of studding will register with one edge of said stripand the outer faces or edges of the other row of studding will registerwith the other edge of said strip as shown. Between these two parallelrows I secure to the inner faces of the studding from flooring toceiling, a lining, 15, of asbestos sheathing or asbestos paper, deadening felt, or like material, thereby forming separated andnon-communicating airchambers 6 and 6. By this construction the lath andplaster, 4', for one room are carried on the outer face of the row ofstudding, 2, and the lath and plaster, 5, for the adjoining room arecarried on the outer face of the row of studding, 3, and between thesetwo plastered walls are non-communicating air-chambers 6 and 6* whichprevent the sound waves of one room penetrating the other room.

In the construction of floors and ceilin s a plate 7 is placed on top ofthe studding to carry the floor joists 8, and just beneath the plate afalse girt or ribbon 9, is nailed to the studding to carry the ceilingjoists 10. Between each floor joist 8 and plate 7 on which it rests, isplaced a piece of asbestos, 11, or other like yielding material. The

purpose of this is to avoid direct contact of the joists with the plateand thereby interrupt the vibrations of the floor timbers caused byromping, stamping, jumping, and the like on the floor, so that they willnot be con'n'nunicated to the room underneath.

The ceiling joists 10 and the floor joists 8 are placed in separatedrows in staggered relation to each other as shown, and between said rowsI secure to the inner faces of the joists, and the entire lengththereof, a lining 16 of asbestos sheathing or asbestos paper, deadeningfelt, or like material, thereby forming separated and non-communicatingair-chambers 14: and 14; so that when the flooring 12 is secured tojoists 8 and the ceiling 13 is affixed to joists 10 the interveningair-chambers completely isolate the rooms from each other. And this formof isolation of the rooms necessarily confines to the respective roomsall noises originating therein. Such construction also results in thefollowing advantages: The air in each room is more easily maintained ata uniform temperature; the rooms are cooler in summer and warmer inwinter. And the use of asbestos lining minimizes the danger ofcommunication of tire fronrone room to another for all drafts of air areavoided.

The separated and independent ceiling joists constructed in the mannershown and described, protect the ceiling from injury from above byreason of all jars and shocks on the floor above being intercepted bythe intervening lining 16 between the floor joists and the ceilingjoists and by the yielding material between the floor joists and theplate. As this form of construction of floors and ceilings issubstantially that shown and described in connection with partitions,all that is hereinbefore said as to the advantages of such partitionsapplies with equal truth and force to the floor and ceiling as hereinset forth.

The phrase parallel partition members as hereinafter used shall beconstrued in its broad sense as applicable to floor and ceiling membersas well as to walls in the usual signification of that word.

What I claim as my invention, is-- 1. In building construction,partitions consisting of independent parallel rows of studding placed instaggered relation, the inner edges thereof being spaced substantiallyapart from opposite Walls, walls on the outer sides of the studding, anda pliant lining secured to the inner faces of the studding from floor toceiling to form separated parallel rows of non-communicating,overlapping air chambers, whereby sound waves are prevented from passingfrom wall to wall.

2. A sound-deadening building construction comprising parallel partitionmembers having sound-deadening chambers disposed in overlappingrelation, the partition members forming the outer walls of the afore- Isaid chambers, joist or studding members arranged in staggered relationwith their inner edges spaced substantially apart from opposite walls ofthe partition mem bers forming the side walls of the aforesaid chambers;and a separating sheet of pliant sound-deadening material undulatinglydisposed over the inner edges of successive joist or studding membersand forming the inner walls of the aforesaid overlapping chambers.

JAMES M. VERNON.

Witnesses CHAS, P. MURnooK, CLAUDE P. SMITH.

